


Motor LoVe

by VMarsTrek



Category: Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, F/M, I had to fit 11 in, Logan leaning, Motorcross racing, No Beta, VM Fic Club Presents Promptober 2020, better late than never, finally done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:26:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27592700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VMarsTrek/pseuds/VMarsTrek
Summary: Funny things are happening in the pit area that Veronica so carefully crafted together. Will she figure out what's going on before before the big race?
Relationships: Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars
Comments: 5
Kudos: 21
Collections: VM Fic Club Presents Promptober 2020





	Motor LoVe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [His_Beautiful_Girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/His_Beautiful_Girl/gifts).



> For His_Beautiful_Girl
> 
> Broken stick  
> Slam Dunk  
> Game, Set, Match  
> False start  
> Strike out  
> Body check  
> Out of bounds  
> Break Point  
> Curve ball  
> Double Team  
> Game Over  
> Thanks for Playing
> 
> Thank you LoveObsessed 2 for the Gory inspiration.

Veronica stalks back and forth on a grated steel platform waving papers angrily into the air. 

“Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. No. See, I have this thing called a contract, signed, by you. My talent will most certainly not be performing the stunt without the necessary safety precautions in place…..well that’s colourful….look Mr. Sorokin, I have time trials to attend to. Do whatever it is you do, but know this: either way we will be receiving a cheque from you.” She growls angrily as she’s at her breaking point.

She hangs up the phone and resists the urge to throw it into the track, but it’s her third phone already this year so she slips it into the pocket of her team jacket. Veronica has worked hard to build this team up, no thanks to people like Mr. Gorya Sorokin. Gory to his friends, a sexist dick to Veronica. He’s been fighting her on the contract ever since he realized he’s been dealing with a woman, throwing curveball, after curveball. His equal in every way, (except she can, grow another organ and expel it, in theory, maybe that’s besides the point) but in contract law. 

Veronica studied hard, made sacrifices and incurred debt to get her law degree, as while she remains proud of the opportunities and prestige it brings her name, law isn’t for her. Not to say she didn’t learn other things along the way, aside from contract negations. 

This is why they try to keep their sponsorships “in family” so to speak. Mac brought her IT security firm providing state of the art diagnostics. Parker has a start up manufacturing cost effective rubber material for playgrounds, swimming pools, senior centres and other places where a soft surface is needed. Wallace co-founded a small company designing sports related footwear that were also engineered to prevent injuries. 

Veronica and the talent double teamed on and off the race course and co-owned a small, but popular distillery specializing in handcrafted gin. All ingredients are grown onsite which makes it cost effective, but getting around the property tedious. That’s when they invested in small scooters, then he upsized to a dirt bike. Things took off after that, and MotorLoVe Distillery was the first investor. 

She steps into the pit to look at the family they built. The day to day pit crew is off, so it’s just mainly their group of friends. Veronica runs her hand over the hardened steel of the workbench. 

When Gory had first approached the group with his proposal, they all had flat out refused. He was launching some product or another and no one really saw the connection to their brand. Unaware of their group’s dynamics, he tried to court each one separately, only to strike out each time with a “I’ll have to check to see if everyone is available.” Veronica thought he had gotten the point after that. Now she’s not so sure. 

That’s when he sweetened the deal with a tire technician from Seattle, when Parker was a month shy from giving birth in the pit. Gory promised a secure track with limited accessibility, no media and a one day shoot. When the group discussed it again, they decided the extra funds could be used towards a new bike design and to give the day to day pit crew a raise. But no sooner was the ink dry on the contract, when weird little things started happening. 

“Bond! There you are! We were about to start without you.” Mac looks up from her laptop with a quirked grin meaning there was no way they would have started without their illustrious leader. “The adjustments were made to account for the new shocks we are trying, but you know who is still..”

“I’ll handle him. Just make sure everything meets regulation so there are no mishaps like last time.” The two friends exchange grim smiles as Veronica turns towards her other second in command, body checking him lightly,. 

“Heeeeeyyyyy buddy.”

Wallace looks up from where he was fiddling with something with a screwdriver so thin one would think it would snap in half just by looking at it. She knows why. The talent, and she can not argue with that, is also tediously fussy. If Veronica had a dime for every time she found him with some component taken completing a part grinding dirt into it, (with a broken stick no less) her student loans would have been paid off a whole lot sooner. Most people like things running smooth: no bumps, no squeaks. But Mother Earth bless him, if one spring doesn’t squeak at the right time: Temper. Tantrum. For. Days. The team has an SOP on this, copied, laminated, chained to the workbench. Says it increases his performance when he can expect certain things to happen at a certain time and in turn, leverage on the track. 

But still something funky has been going on. Right around when Parker left. 

That’s why she finds Wallace tinkering when he should be working on the new design for next race season. 

“Hey supafly.”

“I didn’t expect to see you down here. Again. Are there still problems with the shock absorbers?” Veronica bends down and takes the offered part. She’s not the mechanical engineer here, but she fills in with the crew enough to know when something doesn’t look right. “It’s that chink, right? It shouldn’t be there.” Passing it back she stands and looks around narrowing her eyes on the newest addition. 

“Another slam dunk. And I wish this was the easiest one to explain away. It rolls off and someone picks it up, doesn’t see...only you and your eagle eyes and ….. uh oh.”

“Veronica! Veronica!” She winces because she knows who it is and the tone. It’s the talent. God help her if he didn’t pay the bills and she didn’t….

“Logan! Where have you been?” 

He levels a stare at her. “No. Don’t try that with me. I’m doing the run in,” he looks at the digital clock, “forty minutes, with new shocks and the squeak is a second off.” He crosses his arms and huffs at her. “And new guy put the wrong tires on. Again.” Logan runs his hand over his face and around his back. She sidles up to slip an arm around his waist and kisses him softly on the cheek in a rare show of PDA in the pit area. Maybe they should just have let Parker give birth here, it may have been easier to plan for.

Veronica wants to call him a Princess, but she knows he has some valid points. Some. Parker Lee was their ‘tire technician’, the best in the business. Really she oversaw choosing tires for the bike, watching for new formulations of rubber to improve grip. Master in Chemical Engineering and one of their family. New mom too. Veronica happened to know her because Mac roomed with her. When she decided to stop waiting for Mr. Right and she went solo to have a baby, they had to find someone to fill in for her. Especially after she was changing a tire and tipped over because she refused to go on leave. Leave fully sanctioned and financially covered. 

Veronica chuckles, remembering snapping the ‘turtle on her back’ picture before helping her up, hugging her, then ushering her to a hidden rocking chair with a blanket before bringing in the tire tech she had on stand by provided by Gory. Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski. Tapping her lips, she pats Logan’s arm before she sashays over to where Piz is working, alone, his back to the group. 

“Piz. Hey gotta a minute?” 

He turns with eyes darting trying not to make eye contact. While Veronica is not formidable in stature, her presence certainly is. She waits until he pushes back his floppy hair to look her in the eye. 

“Uh yeah? What do you need? I was working on this tire pressure gauge. It measures how much air is in the tires.” Just like the man who sent him, he’s a sexist asshole. 

“Thanks. I know what...never mind. How’s it going? Any issues I should know about?” Veronica tilts her head. Game.

Everyone has stopped what they are doing. Mac hides behind her monitor, trying to stifle a giggle. Wallace turns on his stool, Logan leans against a pillar, arms crossed, watching intently. There’s an unwritten rule that assholes get to watch other assholes get smacked down. Logan knows it, Piz doesn’t, but that’s not Logan’s problem.

“Nope.”

“Hmmmmmm. I hear there was an issue with Logan’s tires? Again.” Set.

“Yeah, well, someone put the wrong ones here,” he points to a place where it is quite obvious tires waiting to be put on a bike would not be put. “so what can you do?” He shrugs and turns trying to dismiss her and there is a collective hiss. She steps in front of him.

“Well what you can do is see that this, a) is not the place we keep tires ready to be put on Logan’s bike, and b) even if it were, double check that they are the right tires.”

“Whatever.” Piz rolls his eyes and tosses his hair back. 

“Another thing, your hair is too…” Veronica narrows her eyes and that’s when she catches a glint coming from just above his left ear. She knows it can’t be a hearing aid, because they would have been told so they could accommodate or he would be using noise canceling headphones. On a hunch she reaches out and grabs what turns out to be a small video recorder. And Match. 

“What the actual fuck!” Logan is up in Piz’s face, grabbing him, cocking his fist. “What game are you playing at?”

Piz mumbles something about not enough money, and starts to sing like the proverbial canary. Game Over, Gory Sorokin, but thanks for playing. 

Gory’s original idea was to sign Logan to this sponsorship contract and slip some vague wording in that let him use Logan for marketing purposes eventually sweet talking him to join Gory’s racing team after Dominc Desante took an unfortunate tumble breaking an arm. And a leg, some ribs...needless to say he was out for the season and his career might be over. Veronica nixed the vague wording and tightened up the contract leaving nothing to chance. Realizing too late that his plan wouldn’t work, Gory used Piz to infiltrate their team when he saw they would need someone to fill in for Parker. Underestimating the tight knit group, again, he sent Piz to cause small enough problems to be a nuisance but not enough to get Logan hurt, hoping Logan would start seeking out a new team. 

Veronica turns towards Mac who signals she is already on the phone with the police department. They speak with the onsite race generals who then notify the governing board of what had happened. Piz is taken in by the county sheriff’s department for at least one count of mischief. 

The next day by race time, Gory’s race area has been cleared out. Veronica and her chief of security, Weevil, stayed up until midnight in their pit, despite other race appointed security details, to ensure no shenanigans. 

“...so that catches everyone up. I’m sorry everyone. It’s going to be a bit more hectic with Wallace and I on the floor helping out during stops, but…”

“But why would you be on the floor when you can lounge around?”

Everyone turns to see Parker saunter down dressed in her pit suit. A little bundle dressed to match, swathed in a pink blanket. The mini suit was Veronica’s gift, the blanket, Logan’s.

“Parker! What are you doing here?” Veronica rushes over feigning a hug, but grabs the bundle of gurgling pink, cooing to little Annie.

“I heard there was an incident yesterday,” she winks at Mac, “and I know it’s been six weeks, but I’m here, use me!” She holds out her arms dramatically wiggling her hands. 

Throwing an arm around Parker, Logan exclaims, “Thank goodness, someone competent! Did you know he put on the Starcross 5’s? I mean has ever seen a tire before?” He drags her off to start pointing out random things to catch her up on things she’s missed.

Veronica and Wallace exchange glances, thankful they don’t have to fill those shoes during race time. Veronica walks over and sets down the sleeping Annie in the bassinet beside Mac up on the truck bed. 

This is her favorite view because she can watch everyone working in tandem, playing off of each other’s strengths. While Logan is the talent, his success is their success. Weevil can get a tutor for his two girls when they are on the road. Alicia, Wallace’s mom, and Veronica’s step mom, caters for them and a few other of the teams. It works well for all and saves everyone money. She is even planning to launch a restaurant in the distillery once this race season is over. Keith helps her out on the road, allowing him to focus on his writing career. He also helps Weevil with security. Everyone wins here. 

They hear the countdown and all the bikes are lined up. Veronica starts to white knuckle the table, until Mac reaches over and gives her hand a squeeze. 

The countdown starts, and after one false start, the race starts. They watch as Logan takes a slight lead. But these are all pros, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. 

Everyone is held rapt watching as the bikes jockey for position out on the track. Veronica leans back to watch the purple dot on Mac’s screen move around the track. It’s a Supercross race so they have 10 laps and Logan has only done one of these before. It’s a complex track to top it off.

After the second lap Logan comes in to get hydrated while the bike is checked over. Mac checks that the tracer is secure then moves back to oversee the diagnostics being run on the bike. Parker’s new tires are working well now that Piz and Gory are out of the way. Logan is out again before they can blink. He pulls out as three more bikes pull in for their pit stops. Only one is as quick as they are, the other two are a full second longer. 

Meanwhile Veronica is trying to figure out where they will make up the money from the lost contract. Normally she wouldn’t care but they’ve invested part in Wallace's new design and the raises rolled out two weeks ago. 

Think, Veronica, think. 

Just then Dick Casablancas wanders over high fiving some crew. He waves at Veronica and Mac before pulling up a stool beside Wallace to look over preliminary aerodynamics modelling for the new bike. An idea percolates as Veronica wanders over.

During the race two bikes go down, but the riders are ok. Another blows a tire and almost takes out Logan’s bike, but some fancy moves and he avoids the wipe out. It’s Gant Publishing’s team so he’ll hear about it over supper as they share Alicia’s supper. The last lap approaches and everyone comes over to the edge to watch. Logan is battling it out with one other team for first place and it comes down to whomever can make it over the hill first with enough oompf (Veronica’s very technical term) to let them pull ahead. She sees both bikes disappear behind the hill at the same time, but her heart drops as she watches the other team take off from the top first with Logan half a second behind. These races are so tight though, that’s all they need to win. 

However, upon landing, the back tire lands out of bounds, which isn’t kept race ready and catches a rock and the bike skids out, letting Logan take the lead, leaving the other bikes, literally, in his dust. As he rounds the final corner the entire team is jumping for joy. Logan wins the race and Veronica leaps over the railing to be the first at his side when he dismounts the bike. 

He catches her in a searing kiss that is almost indecent for the public but they won, so everyone else be damned. 

Later that night, lying naked in bed after celebrating along, finally, once all their friends and family had left, Veronica sighs.

“Uh oh. Smoke’s coming out, you thinking again sweet cheeks?”

“I told you never to call me that.” 

“Sorry….honey buns.”

“But seriously folks...I spoke with Dick today. And I convinced him it was in his best interest to invest in place of Gory.”

“Mmmmhmmm?” Logan’s eyes twinkle as he smiles and looks away.

Veronica leans up. “What did you do?”

“I knew Piss…”

“Piz.”

Logan waves his hand. “Whatever, dude wasn’t going to stay, and there were some other hinky things going on. You talk in your sleep too much so I figured out the issues. I talked to Dick last week.”

Veronica huffs and goes to roll out of bed, but Logan grabs her and drags her back.

“Now, now, you are not the only one who can figure things out.” He waggles his eyebrows and she rolls her eyes. 

“Love you monkey butt.”

“Love you pumpkin bear.”

Giggles are the last thing heard as they drift to sleep.


End file.
